Worship Sundays at 9 am
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(Preparing for Sunday)
Are you ready for winter? I know the winter season doesn’t officially begin for almost a month, but the signs are all around; the grass has almost stopped growing, few leaves cling to the maples and the nights are frosty cold. My wood stove is already getting solid exercise.
There seems to be a long list of necessary activities that come with preparing for winter. Is the garden tilled under and put away? Are the gutters cleaned out? I got the wood put up for the winter and one more raking of leaves will just about do it. Are you ready for winter?
Every year, as winter rolls around, we hear again the stories from Scriptures that speak of the times and trials that will come at the end. “The End Times,” we call them. What I notice about them is the stark nature of the trial and suffering that will come. This Sunday’s lessons speak of this kind of struggle, and we see it in the lives of faithful people of every time and place. One of the gifts of faith is the ability to persevere.
Among the qualities of survival that help us deal with stark challenges in the world, I rank “faith” high among them. I think that it is faith and hope in God’s working that plays a huge role in why the Faithful will shine like the stars at the last. Perhaps these Faithful will be the ones who read the times and seasons and were prepared to apply their faith to the challenges, harshness and coldness that can fill the world.
Don’t you think that the stars that shine in the winters’ sky shine the brightest?
O Lord, spur us to preparation and gird our hearts that we too may persevere to the end in faith. Then, may we shine like stars in your glory.
Pastor Mitch